Design Wizard is an online photo editor app. Create an account using email or login with a Facebook or Google account and verify with a link sent to your email. Choose the link to create a new design to access tools on the dashboard. Choose from thousands of templates and images to create designs for social media, cards, posters, book covers, and much more. When finished, use links to download or share. Note: a great deal of the preloaded content is not free; however, Design Wizard allows users to upload their own images to edit and share.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many features included with Design Wizard to upload and edit images. Have students use their images to create book covers instead of assigning a traditional book report. As students learn about advertiser tactics, use the ad template and have students create truthful advertisements for products. Create flyers to invite parents to school programs. Ask students to create a flyer that might have been used to invite others to a historical event. The possibilities are as endless as you and your students' imaginations.

Engage in digital storytelling using the many features included in Color, Draw & Paint. Choose from the included tools to spray paint, draw, add stickers, and more. Be sure to watch the tutorial for a complete overview of the features. When finished, save as a PNG file to your computer or print.

In the Classroom

Share how to use this site on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector then allow students to explore on their own. Have students create drawings to demonstrate math problems, share science experiments, or draw scenes from a story. Include students' drawings in a digital portfolio like Seesaw, reviewed here. Seesaw offers tools for uploading images and creating an audio recording to share their reflections upon their work.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from June 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Looking for new tech tools to use? Go to the Cutting Edge with TeachersFirst! Discover tools you and your students can use to create images, timelines, whiteboards, mind maps, and more. Learn how this collection is categorized so you can explore the Edge on your own. Find inspiration and timesaving tools in this fast-paced session while learning classroom applications for these tools. Participants will: 1. Explore the Edge categories and tools available at TeachersFirst; 2. Prepare to plan and implement a student-centered, curriculum-related use of the resource(s) of choice as part of an upcoming teaching unit; and 3. Plan how to use one of the Edge tools for digital storytelling, communication, or creating study tools for your classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This collection of reviewed resources includes tools for creating graphic organizers and many suggestions for ways to use them in teaching almost any subject or grade. Be sure to read the "In the Classroom" suggestions for examples of ways to use graphic organizers as part of a lesson or unit.

In the Classroom

Whether you call them concept maps, mind maps, KWLs, or graphic organizers, these visual diagrams show relationships between concepts and provide a powerful tool for learning and connecting new ideas. Use graphic organizers to help your visual learners build reading comprehension. Find something for all grade levels in this collection.

Explore the many resources shared by National Geographic at their home base created for educators. Monthly features highlight and share information related to current events. Select the "Teaching Resources" link to find ideas, activities, lessons, and units all searchable by grade and topic. Also, this section includes educational games and teacher guides. Choose the "Reference" link to find news and media information from the past plus current events. Be sure also to visit the "Mapping" section to find printable maps, mapmaking kits, and interactive maps.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and include the National Geographic site with your resources for planning social studies and science lessons. Share resources from the site on your interactive whiteboard then include a link on classroom computers for students to explore independently. There are many interesting articles and activities for students. Have them choose one; then, replace paper and pen by having them use an online notetaking tool like Webnote, reviewed here, to take notes or write questions as they research information online. Replace paper pen by asking students to write blogs sharing information learned using a site like Edublog, reviewed here. Edublog offers tools for creating class and individual blogs.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from May 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Are you looking for ways to make your formative and summative assessments more effective? Join us to learn how to use Office 365 tools, including Forms, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Sway, to create authentic assessments throughout your units. Whether it's formative or summative assessment, finding ways to effectively measure students' understanding is crucial to ensure student progress and future success. In this session, we will explore how you can use Office and Windows products to create better formative and summative assessments that reliably measure student learning, promote critical thinking, and help students develop real-world skills. Participants will: 1. Explore the meaning of the term "authentic assessment"; 2. Evaluate several formats of assessment for their usefulness to assess student learning; and 3. Identify a variety of assessment methods and plan for their use in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

The Young Scientist Lab features materials for parents, students, and teachers to explore a world of scientific innovation and opportunities. Materials for teachers include lesson plans, interactives, and challenge support materials. For students, the site provides activities and features on scientists at work. The Family Activities section consists of several engaging experiments to perform at home for students in grades K-8.

In the Classroom

Add this site to your science lesson resources. As students complete activities ask them to create blogs describing their experiments and results. Pen.io, reviewed here is a simple tool for creating and sharing blogs for all grade levels. Have students share their science experiments through weekly or monthly podcasts using a podcasting tool like Podcast Generator, reviewed here. Don't forget to ask students to include both failures and successes when discussing their experiments!

Find crafts, activities, and printables for kids at Woo! Search for materials by holiday, age group, or by using the keyword search bar. Resources just for teachers include lesson plans, templates, and poetry starters. Be sure to check out the recipe section for snack ideas and kid-friendly meal suggestions. This site does include some distracting advertisements.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use Woo! as a starting point for lesson ideas and activities, then go beyond worksheets to challenge your students. Ask your students to create their own templates and review materials using Google Documents. Incorporate game-play into your lessons using Bamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy game creation tool that creates multiple types of games for two teams. Incorporate questions into videos using Playposit, reviewed here. Students and teachers can comment and add responses directly into this video resource.

Do you need help finding interesting adjectives? Describing Words is your answer. Enter any noun into the search box to create a list of possible adjectives (and phrases!) to include. Click any word in the list to view a definition and select additional related words. Sort your list by usage frequency or by uniqueness. Other links provide more resources for related words to the one used initially.

In the Classroom

Include a link to Describing Words on classroom computers for student use with any writing projects. Have students create online posters individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here, to share alternatives to overused adjectives. Have students share the results of their search on Describing Words using Thinglink, reviewed here, to annotate an image.

Explore educational videos providing help with Google products on this YouTube Channel. The site provides playlists offering support for Chromebooks, protecting and using Google accounts, using Gmail and Drive, and much more. Choose individual videos or select playlists by topic to find up to date help in using Google tools. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site on classroom computers for easy reference when working with Google products. Have students create their own support videos using a tool like Powtoon, reviewed here, or My Simpleshow, reviewed here, for any technology issues that arise in your classroom. Remember, you can take screenshots (Printscrn button on Windows or Command+Shift+4 on Mac), and include those in a video. You will need to convert the screenshot to a JPG. This can be done easily and quickly using CloudConvert, reviewed here. Share the students created videos using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.

Peruse this collection of ideas and reviewed resources selected to help both substitute teachers and regular teachers leaving instructions for a substitute. The list includes useful time-fillers for when plans are not a perfect fit as well as teacher-friendly suggestions to make subbing a positive learning experience for all.

In the Classroom

Whether you are a substitute looking for some "filler" ideas or a classroom teacher looking for new sites, check out this list of resources. Share this list on your class website for families to use at home. This list includes resources for young readers and secondary students.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from May 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Input and expertise from peers can help students learn and grow. Learn to use Flipgrid, a video discussion platform, to increase student voice in your classroom. This tech tool can enhance social learning through sharing short videos centered around a topic. Getting started is easy, and after this session, you will be ready to use Flipgrid to encourage every student to share what they know. Participants will: 1. Learn to create a basic classroom Flipgrid; 2. Understand ways to use Flipgrid to increase student voice in the classroom; and 3. Plan for the use of Flipgrid in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Take a virtual tour of Space Shuttle Discovery's flight deck through the use of 360-degree panoramic cameras. Use the controls to move around and explore all areas of the shuttle's flight deck. Be sure to use the link for the full-screen mode for the most precise and "up-close" viewing during your virtual tour.

In the Classroom

Include this virtual tour with your resources for teaching about space and exploration. Share your links with students using a bookmarking tool like Symbaloo, reviewed here, and include your Symbaloo on classroom computers and your class website. Ask students to create a screen recording while viewing this virtual tour and discuss their thoughts and ideas on the features found on the flight deck. Screencast-O-Matic, reviewed here, is a very easy to use tool for creating screen recordings from any computer.

The Challenger Center provides lessons and resources dedicated to continuing the work of the Challenger mission and crew after the shuttle tragedy in 1986. Select the STEM Resources link to find lessons sorted by grade levels. These lessons include the lost lessons of Christa McAuliffe that were supposed to take place during her time in space. Other lessons take students on explorations of space travel through meal planning, finding coordinates, and locating and rescuing a lost teammate.

In the Classroom

Add the Challenger Center to your resources for teaching about outer space. As you begin your unit, create a Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share information learned. Have students make flashcards and quizzes to review information learned using a site like Study Droid, reviewed here. As a culminating project, have students create explainer videos of any concept using My Simpleshow, reviewed here.

This site shares lessons and resources to learn more about the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. Choose from the many resources sorted by topics including gravity, space history, and more. The Online Explorations offer opportunities to play an interactive card game with solar system trading cards or use real data from the Hubble Telescope to make conjectures about the universe. Additional resources on this site include fully detailed lesson plans correlated to standards, graphic organizers, and up to date information with the latest space telescope related news.

In the Classroom

Be sure to bookmark this site if you teach space science for the many available resources shared with educators. Take advantage of the free lesson plans and interactives. Share how to use interactives on your whiteboard or with a projector then let students explore on classroom computers or their own device. Include a link to interactives on your class website for students to access from home. Use an online portfolio site like Seesaw, reviewed here, for younger students, or bulb, reviewed here, for older students to collect artifacts and share their thoughts throughout your space unit. Take student learning a step further and ask them to use an augmented reality application like HP Reveal, reviewed here, to create an augmented reality display of different portions of our solar system.

Monster Sciences contains an extensive array of experiments, videos, and printable materials for teaching science and more. Choose any experiment for a full description of the activity including teacher's notes and extended questions. The video category includes several videos of students performing activities found on the site. Be sure to check out the literacy and math sections for games and templates for teaching activities. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many lesson ideas and experiments found on the site, all designed by a teacher and explained from a teacher's point of view. Videotape students performing experiments then use a video tool like EdPuzzle, reviewed here to extend student learning. Use EdPuzzle to add questions to your video assessing students' understanding of the experiment's concepts. At the end of your unit, ask students to modify their learning by creating animated video explanations of experiments using Biteable, reviewed here. Biteable is a simple to use animated video creation tool that features a variety of templates for different recording needs.

Explore your world through videos and interactives offered by The Lawrence Hall of Science. Videos feature a diverse array of topics ranging from features of a new penny to watching a spider build a web. Take part in activities including building a bridge from paper, hunting for bugs, and testing materials to clean up an oil spill. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many hands-on activities available on this site to use as part of science and STEM lessons. After participating in the activities, ask students to choose their favorite using Dotstorming, reviewed here, to vote and add comments discussing their choice. During activities, have students videotape their work. Ask them to include their video as part of an ongoing reflection of the lessons learned. Use a simple webpage creator like WebNode, reviewed here, to share student response and reflection including images and videos.

This archived Twitter chat is from May 2018 and will open in TweetChat. The title of this chat is - Formative Assessment Tools. Through this chat participants will: 1. Discuss the instructional goals of formative assessment, 2. Share tech tools that assist in formatively assessing students, 3. Explore new ideas for how to best assess your students. Read the many comments and suggestions by both the moderator and other participants.

In the Classroom

Find new tools and tips for using formative assessment in your classroom. Share this chat with your colleagues looking for sites and information about formative assessment. Explore the various tools that are shared.

Scholastic presents eleven interactives introducing and reinforcing topics including food webs and symbiosis. Scroll through the page to select an activity. Each lesson includes a video, vocabulary terms, and a short quiz.

In the Classroom

View these interactives as a class to introduce different components of ecosystems and biomes. Share a link on class computers for students to view on their own as a science learning station. As students learn more about biomes, ask them to use ThingLink, reviewed here, to annotate an image. After uploading an image, ThingLink provides you with tools to add links to text, videos, and images to provide details explaining the original image. As a final project, have students create books sharing information about biomes. Have younger students use a tool like WriteReader, reviewed here. WriteReader includes options for including original spelling along with "correct" spelling underneath. For older students, create books using Book Creator, reviewed here. Book Creator includes many options to create online books including videos, audio, and images.

The FCIT LPlanner provides technology-based lessons in all subjects for grades K-12. Use a keyword search to find specific content or browse by grade level and subject. Click on any lesson title to view the entire lesson including correlation to standards, objectives, procedures, assessments, and any included files for download. Membership isn't required to access and use lesson plans; however, free registration allows for saving lesson plans to your account for access at any time.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site to benefit from the free lesson plans provided. Share lesson ideas within professional development sessions and collaborate with peers to gather additional ideas for integrating technology into current lessons. Find many resources for free technology tools at TeachersFirst Edge Tools, reviewed here.